Happy Independence Day

Today is the 4th anniversary of the end of the Iraq War. The Iraqis were declared “independent” so I would guess that we could consider this the Iraqi “Independence Day”.

I hear that they celebrated today with fireworks – of a sort.

Others have said it better than I, but when I'm asked if I think the Iraq war is going well I say, “Sure! It went well – we Won!” Bush said “Mission Accomplished” 4 years ago today.

Now Iraq is in the middle of a civil / religious war, and we are unwelcome intruders. I can't help but wonder what Americans of 1861 would have done if France or Britain had occupied our entire country in an attempt to prevent, or 'police' the American Civil war. I would guess that both the Union and the Confederacy would have set aside their differences long enough to reenact the Revolutionary War all over again and kick the British out.

(Yes, I realize Britain was involved in the civil war - the Confederacy tried its best to get British help, but Europe just couldn't stomach slavery – the Emancipation Proclamation went a long way to earning the Union much needed support from Europe.)

Now America is in a bad spot with Iraq. They're dead set on having a civil war, with or without us. Perhaps we should take a few steps back and pull our troops out of harms way while the Iraqis figure things out?

Iraqis are very bitter toward Americans now. Perhaps it is time for us to listen to them and help them accomplish what they want, instead of what we want?

Happy Independence Day.